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Weekly Perspective Jan. 11th, 2019

17
May

Weekly Perspective, May 17th, 2019

Is it windy in your neighborhood today? If so, it could just be the speed with which the legislative windmill blades are turning in Jefferson City just now. Both the House and the Senate are running on coffee and adrenaline as the clock ticks down to the 6 p.m. conclusion. May 17 is the day when advocates, legislators, lobbyists, and Missourians at large are all waiting for sine die - the Latin word used in the official motion to end the Regular Legislative Session. When this happens, we’ll be able to let the dust settle and see where everything stands…

14
May

Missouri Sentencing Coalition Applauds Passage of Criminal Justice Reform Measures – New Legislation Will Reduce Prison Sentencing for Nonviolent Offenders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2019 For More Information: Sara Baker, 314-809-0658 Jeremy Cady, 417-597-3838 Jeanette Mott Oxford, 314-775-3261 Jefferson City – Yesterday, the Missouri Legislature approved HB 192, a proposal that would reform Missouri sentencing law and allow eligible individuals to have earlier parole hearings.  HB 192 requires the parole board to evaluate those currently serving mandatory minimums and decide if they should be released. In the first ten months, estimates hold that almost 200 individuals will be released. After four years, this proposal is projected to decrease the Missouri prison population by 925 individuals. HB 192 has passed through both…

10
May

Weekly Perspective, May 10th, 2019

Reformed theologian and ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr (born in Wright City, MO in 1892) began sharing a prayer in 1934 that was published in this form in 1951: ….give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. With one week left in Legislative Session 2019, we are forced to accept that there are some things we cannot change…..at least not this year. Yet, as social justice advocates, we also have a responsibility to change the things we cannot…

1
May

Empowering You May 2019 Newsletter

Read and download the full Newsletter below, or choose a specific story from the list.

1
May

NEWSLETTER: Historic Debate on HIV Modernization

The House Committee Substitute (HCS) of House Bills 167 & 166 was debated on the House floor on Tuesday afternoon. You know from our Weekly Perspective and Call to Action last Friday that the version voted out of committee needed some significant improvements. The floor debate was an opportunity to hear several amendments offered, get objections out in the open, and discover previously unknown champions. If you’d like to see the play-by-play, check out our Twitter feed for both Empower Missouri and the MO HIV Justice Coalition. Sitting in the House Gallery, witnessing a full hour’s worth of debate was…

26
Apr

Weekly Perspective, Apr. 26th, 2019

If you follow our work, you are likely aware that one of our policy priorities this year is to modernize Missouri’s outdated, medically inaccurate, stigmatizing HIV-specific criminal codes. You may remember a Weekly Perspective from the first week of February after an energizing committee hearing. If you haven’t paid that close of attention because you feel like HIV doesn’t affect you, we need your attention now. The beauty, the strength that we have as Empower Missouri is the breadth of the work we undertake, and the solidarity of our members who support each other. When a moment comes to mobilize to move…

19
Apr

Weekly Perspective, Apr. 19th, 2019

It has been clear to criminal justice advocates in Empower Missouri’s network for some time that poverty has been criminalized. Among the ways we have drawn attention to this topic were an April 2017 forum and a special Media Award to Tony Messenger in May 2018 for his series on policies that create debtors’ prisons, both events hosted by our St. Louis Chapter. The Kansas City Chapter also tackled the need for sentencing reform that addresses the criminalization of poverty at their March 2019 forum. We were excited to see the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously rule on March 19 in Richey v. State…

5
Apr

Weekly Perspective Apr. 5th, 2019

On March 28, the Missouri House approved its version of the $29.23 billion state operating budget for the 2020 fiscal year. The budget process now continues on the Senate side of the building, with final agreement due by May 10, a week before adjournment of the 2019 Regular Session of the General Assembly. There is considerable anxiety as to whether the Senate will have to make significant cuts, given that state revenues were running $339 million below last year’s numbers as of March 22. If the April 15 tax payments do not fill the gap, then hopefully elected officials will take…

1
Apr

Empowering You April 2019 Newsletter

Read and download the full Newsletter below, or choose a specific story from the list.

22
Mar

Weekly Perspective Mar. 22nd, 2019

The General Assembly has been on Legislative Spring Break this week, but will return to action on Monday, March 25. Conventional wisdom says that most bills that have not been passed by one chamber by break week will have difficulty making it through the entire process by adjournment of the Legislative Session in mid-May, but certainly when House and Senate leaders are determined to make an issue move, they can. Unfortunately some lawmakers seem determined to overturn, either in whole or in part, the Amendment 1 (CLEAN initiative) and minimum wage increase victories we achieved at the polls in November.…